Iran Expects Russia's Serious Support For North-South International Corridor - Minister

(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 16. Iran expects Russia to seriously support the North-South international corridor, Iranian Minister of Economy and Finance Abdolnaser Hemmati said at a meeting with Aide to Russian President Igor Levitin in Tehran on 16 September, Trend reports.

According to him, Iran, Russia, India, and Persian Gulf nations can improve collaboration by rapidly activating the North-South International Corridor as a transit route.

“We hope to witness an increase in Russian investments in Iran, mainly in oil, logistics, and transit projects,” he said.

Special Assistant to the Russian President Igor Levitin also noted at the meeting that Russia has allocated a budget for the construction of the Rasht-Astara railroad. The volume of cargo that can be transported by this railroad is 15 million tons and it is possible to increase it to 30-50 million tons.

Levitin stressed that Russia desires that the works within the framework of the project of the International North-South Corridor be implemented as soon as possible. By order of the President of Russia, the implementation of this project has begun and the work is being carried out by VTB Bank of Russia.

“Currently, the first part of the North-South corridor project (Rasht-Astara railroad), i.e. technical works, has been completed and is at the stage of starting construction works under the coordination of the Ministry of Economy," he said.

Meanwhile, Russia and Iran signed an agreement on May 17, 2023, to build the Rasht-Astara railroad line in Gilan province, located in northern Iran. Nine stations will be built on the 163-kilometer-long Rasht-Astara railway line. With the completion of this railroad, the North-South international corridor will be improved and Iran's railroad network will be connected to the Caucasus countries, Russia, and Northern European countries. Under the agreement, the Russian side is to spend 1.6 billion euros on the construction of this railroad. This railroad is planned to be built and completed within 48 months.

The intergovernmental agreement signed between Russia, Iran, and India on September 12, 2000, laid the foundation for the North-South Transport Corridor. In general, several countries have ratified the said Agreement. (Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Belarus, Republic of Bulgaria, India, Islamic Republic of Iran, Republic of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kyrgyzstan, Sultanate of Oman, Russian Federation, Republic of Tajikistan, Republic of Türkiye, Ukraine). The purpose of the establishment of the corridor is to reduce the delivery time of cargo traveling from India to Russia, as well as to Northern and Western Europe (the delivery time along the existing route is more than six weeks, it is expected to be three weeks via North-South).

In order to connect Azerbaijan Railways with the Iranian railroad network within the corridor, Qazvin-Rasht railroad (175 km) was put into operation on March 6, 2019. The Rasht-Astara railroad is to be built on the territory of Iran.

The north-south corridor has three directions on the territory of Iran. Eastern direction-Turkmenistan and Central Asian countries, Middle direction and other countries across the Caspian Sea, Western direction-Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, and Eastern European countries.

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